Maths Week Ireland 2010

On 14th October 8A1 and 8A2 went to the University of Ulster in Coleraine to see the mathemagician Andrew Jeffrey.

His first trick was my favourite. He had a tiny briefcase in his pocket and said there was a picture of his brain on the small piece of paper he brought out of it. Then he brought out a lighter and burned it into chocolate money and gave it to a pupil sitting at the front.

After this we played Who Wants to be a Millionaire. Mrs Houston got to choose who answered the questions. For the questions Andrew got a £20 note and folded it. We had to say what fraction of it he showed. After this he made a pentagon out of a piece of paper, followed by another. He put them together with a hair band and pressed against the edges to make a ball. This was another good trick.

At the end of the show all the other schools left but our bus was late picking us up so Andrew showed us how to make different shapes out of paper.

By Anna McKendry

On Thursday 14th October, 2010 I went to see a mathemagician, called Andrew Jeffrey, in the University of Ulster, Coleraine.

I found it very interesting the way he made it fun and got the audience involved. I enjoyed it when he explained easy ways we could remember things.

I will always remember my seven times tables because of the snakes and ladders 'X's and 'O's. It might sound weird but it was brilliant. I also enjoyed the way he turned two pentagons into a ball.

The most enjoyable part of the lesson for me though was when he turned a twenty pound note into a million dollar note - you had to see it to believe it!!

Andrew Jeffrey is a brilliant mathemagician. I was just sorry it didn't last longer. I would love to go back and see him again sometime soon.

By Kathryn-Ann McCombe

On the 14th October we went to see a mathemagician. It was really fun he did loads of maths tricks.

There was one that I really liked it was a card trick. One person had to come up, pick a card and the mathemagician, mixed the cards up and then had to choose the right card.

We watched the show in an octagon shaped room.

By Emily Nicholl

Today, Thursday 14th October, 2010, we went to see Andrew Jeffrey, a mathemagician in the University of Ulster, Coleraine.

I really enjoyed my time there as he got the audience involved by getting us up on our feet, marching on the spot, asking us questions and keeping us interested in what he was doing.

My favourite part of the lesson was when Andrew Jeffrey turned a twenty pound note into a million dollar bill. Mrs. Houston was a millionaire for a whole five seconds. She then realised it was only fake. We were disappointed as we thought Mrs. Houston would take us to a lovely, expensive restaurant for our lunch before returning to school. Sadly, I had to eat my homemade sandwiches.

The maths was fantastic but the maths and magic together was out of this world. I had a brilliant day. I could have stayed for much longer and listened to Andrew Jeffrey. He is a fantastic mathemagician and he knows how to get attention from his audiences and how to keep it. I now realise why he is called "The Mathemagician".

By Amy-Louise McCombe